Diving mask

ABSTRACT

A diving mask includes: a facial body made of an elastomeric material and having at least one opening adapted for positioning at least one transparent element, the outlet edge of the opening being shaped to provide a sealing gasket for the peripheral edge of the transparent element; a back mount made of a material of reduced flexibility, having a shaped that is substantially complementary to the opening and adapted to cooperate with the sealing gasket; and a front frame made of a relatively stiffer material, adapted to tighten the sealing gasket against the back mount, the front frame and the back mount being provided with releasable mutually-engaging members, the back mount being further provided with at least one fin protruding outwards radially.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns diving masks, and concerns, in particular, diving masks that are able to use graded lenses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Diving masks are currently made by assembling one or two transparent elements made of glass or another similar transparent material adapted to transmit light, with a facial body made of elastomeric material and intended to adhere to the face of the user, and also able to exert the appropriate seal with respect to the transparent elements, which are fixed to the openings provided in the facial body by means of a rigid frame able to force the seal on the transparent elements.

It is very clear that a construction of this type, in which maintaining the seal with the edges of the transparent elements engaged in the openings of the facial body is of fundamental importance, involves rather significant problems if one intends to insert graded transparent elements in this environment, i.e. if one intends to make the mask usable for users in need of sight correction. The lenses to be introduced in the mask should be easily replaceable, without compromising the seal of the mask, and without complicating its structure in a way that increases implementation costs unbearably for the production of the item and its mass marketing.

Different constructive techniques aimed to provide a system for removably positioning the transparent elements, and in this case the graded transparent elements or lenses, in the diving masks and able to contemporaneously ensure the required seal have been approached in the field for many years. In general, the solutions that were effective in terms of ease of assembly and disassembly did not excel in terms of seal and solidity of the structure, while the solutions which provided greater stability offered clear operative difficulties when installing or replacing the graded transparent elements.

A diving mask in which the lenses are mounted thanks to the insertion, during assembly, of a relatively rigid frame which is co-molded with the portion of the facial body intended to house the lenses, so that to provide a stable support able to easily couple with a rigid outer frame, is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,778. However, the implementation of such mask requires rather complex operative steps and makes the effectiveness of the seal on the lenses directly dependent on the success of the coupling during the co-molding step.

Moreover, a sealing gasket, which acts between the frame and the transparent element, is co-molded or applied on the most rigid part of the mount co-molded on the flexible part of the facial body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Object of the present invention is thus to provide a diving mask able to overcome the drawbacks of the devices known in the state of the art, which is provided with an effective seal of the transparent elements with respect to the openings of the facial body of the mask in which they are positioned, and contemporaneously conceived so that the assembling and disassembling of the transparent elements is simple and quick, without constructive complications and by conveniently exploiting the characteristics of the different materials used.

Object of the present invention is thus a diving mask comprising: a facial body made of elastomeric material, provided with at least one opening intended for positioning at least one transparent element, the outlet edge of the opening being shaped so that to provide the sealing gasket of the peripheral edge of the transparent element; a back mount made of rigidly flexible material, substantially shaped complementarily to the opening and/or the edge of the opening and adapted to cooperate with the sealing gasket; and a front frame made of a relatively more rigid material, able to tighten the sealing gasket against the back mount, the front frame and the back mount being provided with releasable mutually-engaging means; the back mount being provided with at least one fin radially protruding to the outside of the back mount. A pressure radially exerted towards the inside of the mount, combined with a successive movement in an opposite direction with respect to the front frame, causes the decoupling of the two elements and allows the removal of the transparent element held in-between them.

In an embodiment, the transparent element adheres with a peripheral edge thereof and with the peripheral strip of the side of the transparent element oriented towards the facial body, against a peripheral annular supporting surface of the facial body delimiting the corresponding opening and extending parallel to the surface of the transparent element.

Moreover, according to an embodiment, the annular supporting surface ends with an annular rib which overlaps and/or adheres to the peripheral edge of the transparent element.

The stiffening mount of the part of the facial body delimiting the openings is provided at the side of the annular supporting surface of the transparent element opposite the transparent element, i.e. not facing it and is constituted by an annular frame with which an annular frame cooperates by snap fitting.

In a preferred embodiment, the radially protruding fin is arranged at an engaging means placed on the mount, so that the deformation induced to the frame itself allows the immediate disengagement with respect to the frame. In particular, the engaging means comprise a tooth-like profile intended to be inserted into a complementary cavity formed in the inner profile of the front frame.

Advantageously, at the outlet edge of the opening intended for positioning the transparent element, a cavity housing the fin radially protruding from the back mount is formed. Moreover, the sealing gasket cooperates with the throats conveniently formed in the back mount and the front frame; in particular, the sealing gasket is formed with a substantially longitudinal G-shaped section.

The mask according to the present invention performs its best effectiveness when transparent elements are housed in two independent openings, but offers the same advantages also when making only one opening cooperating with only one transparent element.

An embodiment provides that the back mount(s) and the corresponding front frame(s) have essentially parallel tightening surfaces respectively of the peripheral front strip of the corresponding transparent element and of a contact surface essentially parallel to said peripheral strip of the transparent element, which contact surface is provided along the gasket formed by the peripheral edge delimiting the opening, shaped like a sealing lip.

An embodiment provides that the tooth-like profile on the back mount(s) is coincident with an engaging recess on the facing side of the corresponding front frame, said recess being open towards the surface forming the peripheral edge of the transparent element, i.e. the open side of said engaging recess is essentially perpendicular to the surface of the corresponding transparent element, whereby the engagement and disengagement of said tooth in said recess occurs with a movement in a direction essentially parallel to the surface of the face(s) of the corresponding lens.

A preferred embodiment provides that the gasket formed by the peripheral edge delimiting the corresponding opening also has contact surfaces with the corresponding back mount and/or corresponding front frame and/or peripheral edge of the transparent element oriented along the thickness thereof, thus, in an assembled condition, said surface is tightened between the corresponding surfaces of the back mount and the corresponding front frame and/or the peripheral edge of the transparent element.

An embodiment provides that the gasket constituted by the peripheral edge delimiting the opening(s) comprises a first throat, with a substantially U-shaped section on the back side, whose bottom wall forms the contact surface with the back perimeter strip of the transparent element on the side opposite the throat, a side rib continues perpendicular to said contact surface with the perimeter strip of the transparent element and is intended to come into contact with the surface of the side edge of the transparent element oriented along the thickness thereof;

the back mount comprises a throat with a U-shaped section opened towards said gasket and which throat engages the U-shaped throat of the gasket, so that the side wall of the throat, facing the center of the transparent element, is engaged inside the cavity of the U-shaped throat of the gasket and abuts against the bottom wall thereof, whereas the side wall of the U-shaped throat of the gasket, which is more outward with respect to the center of the transparent element, is engaged inside the throat of the back mount and abuts against the bottom wall thereof, and whereas the front frame has a side facing the transparent element, which is stepped, the fronts of said steps respectively constituting a contact surface with the peripheral strip of the front side of the transparent element, with the head edge of the rib of the gasket in contact with the side edge of the transparent element, with the outer side surface of said rib with reference to the center of the transparent element.

The aforesaid parts are shaped and sized so that in a condition in which the back mount is engaged with the front frame, the transparent element and the gasket are sealingly tightened to each other and removably held in this position thanks to the activation of the fin, as described above.

According to a further characteristic, the engaging tooth of the back mount cooperating with the engaging recess of the front frame constitutes the side wall facing the front side of the mask body of a peripheral throat provided in the back mount and open on the side opposite the transparent element and open on the side opposite said transparent element, the U-shaped throat being made laid down, i.e. with the branches of the U substantially parallel to the faces of the transparent element, and whereas in a mutually coupled condition, the front frame has a terminal peripheral appendage intended to be engaged in the U-shaped throat by shape coupling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and characteristics of the device according to the present invention will become clearer in the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, made by way of example and without limitations with reference to the accompanying tables of drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded axonometric view of an embodiment of the diving mask according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is front elevation view of the diving mask of FIG. 1, after having been assembled;

FIG. 3A is a view of a particular in section along the line III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 3B is a view similar to the one of FIG. 3, in a different operative step.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

According to a broad embodiment of the mask of the present invention, the mask body 1 intended to adhere against the face of the user with a sealing lip has one or two openings for a corresponding transparent element 3 in an opposite and advanced position, i.e. spaced from the face of the user and thus from the sealing lip against it. The opening(s) 101 is/are peripherally delimited by an edge which is shaped so that to form a seat for housing the peripheral edge of the corresponding transparent element, which seat has at least one continuous fin overlapping a peripheral strip of the surface of the transparent element facing the inside of the mask body and at least one wall which is connected in one piece from the former and which overlaps the peripheral edge of the corresponding transparent element, at least for a part of the thickness thereof. Each transparent element is sealingly locked and tightened in the corresponding housing seat between two ferrules or mounts shaped correspondingly to the peripheral edge of said opening and which have removable interlocking mutual coupling means, and at least one member for releasing said mutual coupling means, a mount or a ferrule overlapping on the opposite side of the peripheral edge of the corresponding opening and the other mount on the front side of said peripheral edge, whereas at least the mount overlapping the back side of the side edge adheres with a compression surface against the wall of the peripheral edge of the opening overlapping the peripheral strip of the corresponding transparent element and possibly also the wall of said peripheral edge of the opening overlapping the side edge of the transparent element.

A broad variant of this embodiment is described in the accompanying figures.

FIG. 1 shows the aforesaid embodiment variant of the diving mask according to the present invention, wherein 1 denotes the facial body of the mask. The facial body is made of soft and elastic material at least in the zones intended to adhere against the face of the user or for its entirety, such as plastic, silicone and/or natural or synthetic rubber.

In the embodiment shown, the aforesaid body 1 has two openings 101 intended for positioning transparent elements 3, such as plastic, glass or crystal lenses.

Said openings 101 are each provided, along the respective outlet edge, i.e. along the peripheral delimiting edge thereof, with a housing and sealing gasket element 201 made in one piece with said body 1.

In one embodiment, the gasket element is in the form of a lip or inner shaped flange and is adapted to make the seal with the peripheral edge of the transparent elements 3.

Each of said openings 101 is coupled with a back mount 2, made of a rigidly flexible material, provided with a throat 302 adapted to cooperate with the gasket 201, and provided with a plurality of teeth 102 protruding radially and intended to couple with coinciding cavities 204 present on the inner profile of the openings 104 of a front frame 4, made of a relatively more rigid material. Each of said back mounts 2 is provided with a fin radially protruding outwards, which is housed in a recess 301 formed on the body 1 in proximity of the sealing lip 201, and in a recess 304 provided on the front frame 4.

According to a feature, said fin 202 is provided on the most outward side branch of the back mount 2, with reference to the central zone of the mask body 1, i.e. on the side of the corresponding temple or ear of the user when the mask is in a worn condition.

FIG. 2 shows the diving mask of the present invention in an assembled condition; the same parts have the same numerals. The positioning of the two fins 202 with respect to the mount or the outer or front frame 4 can be noted in the figure.

A particular in section according to the line III-III of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 3A; the same parts have the same numerals.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the implementation of the mask according to the present invention, relatively to the engagement of the tooth-like relief 102 of the mount 2 in the cavity 204 formed in the frame 4. Moreover, a particular embodiment of the sealing lip 201 delimiting a corresponding opening and having its free end which is engaged and tightened between a throat 302 formed on the mount 2 and a countercheck shoulder 404 formed in the frame 4, on the side facing said sealing lip 201, is also highlighted. The transparent element 3 is sealingly locked and tightened between the frame 4 and the gasket 201. The substantially longitudinal G-shaped section of the gasket 201, which provides both an axial and radial seal around the peripheral edge of the transparent element 3, can also be noted.

Following the application of a force on the fin 202 radially protruding outwards from the mount 2, which force is applied in the direction denoted by the arrow 20, the tooth 102, as shown in FIG. 3B, is disengaged from the recess 204, and thus the successive application of a force on the fin 202 in the direction denoted by the arrow 30 of FIG. 3B is able to cause the separation between the frame 4 and the back mount.

The operation of the mask according to the present invention will become clearer hereunder. During the assembly, after the two transparent elements 3 were made while keeping into the account the sight requirements of the user, and thus conveniently graded to address any sight defects thereof, the two back mounts 2 are positioned with respect to the gasket 201 so that to arrange the respective fins 202 inside the cavity 301 of the body 1. With the positioning of the transparent elements 3 inside the seats formed by the sealing lip 201 delimiting the corresponding opening and the coupling with the corresponding lip of the corresponding mount 2, the two mounts 2 are successively coupled with the front frame 4 by engaging the teeth 102 of the mounts inside the cavities 204 of the frame. The structure shown in FIG. 3A is achieved in this way, able to provide a stable coupling and an effective seal between each transparent element 3 and its housing seat.

The structure of the mount 2 however allows making the disengagement from such coupling rather easy, both in virtue of its deformation and the contiguous positioning of the coupling means with respect to the fin 202, which constitutes de facto a quick release means for them. Consequently, with two simple successive movements, the frame 4 can be easily removed and the graded transparent elements 3 can be replaced or subjected to maintenance operations.

Advantageously, the fin radially protruding outside of said back mount 2 has a length substantially equal to the cross section of said mount, and a width between 5% and 10% of the perimeter of said mount. A greater length of said fin could cause problems, making this protrusion bothersome in terms of possible interferences, with a consequent risk of accidental disengagement from the coupling. Similarly, a greater width than the one described could make the deformation action imparted to the mount little effective and thus makes the disengagement of the parts connected to each other difficult. A fin length and width lower than those previously described make the manual operation of the device difficult, and thus complicate de facto its use.

By going further into constructive detail, the diving mask according to the present invention thus brilliantly solves the problems highlighted in the state of the art, providing a solution of simple implementation and able to ensure both the effective seal of the transparent elements with respect to the facial body and the quick extraction of the same transparent elements from the respective seats.

Although the above described embodiment relates to a mask of the bi-ocular type, i.e. a mask whose body has two openings each intended for an eye and each of which openings is closed by means of a separate transparent element, it is clear that the same inventive concept can be extended to a mask with only one transparent element closing only one front opening of the mask body, said opening and thus said transparent element extending so that to generate a window which allows seeing with both eyes.

In this case, for example, the two transparent elements of the example shown are also connected to each other in the intermediate zone, the connection made also preferably being transparent. In the same way, the two openings are communicating, the intermediate zone of the mask body being omitted whereas the back mount and the front frame have an extension and a shape corresponding to the edge delimiting the perimeter of the opening and of the only transparent element.

Moreover, the back mount and the front frame can have only one mutually-engaging means, releasable in combination with a fin radially protruding outwards, or one of said means at each of the two outer side branches of the back mount and frame, each in a position similar to that of the mounts and frames provided in the bi-ocular version. The term “outer side branches” means the segments of the mount, of the front frame, of the edge of the opening in the mask body and of the transparent element adjacent to the zone of the temples with the mask worn by the user. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A diving mask comprising: a facial body made of an elastomeric material and having at least one opening adapted to receive at least one transparent element therein, an outlet edge of said at least one opening being shaped to provide a sealing gasket of a peripheral edge of the at least one transparent element; a back mount made of a material of reduced flexibility, substantially shaped complementarily to said at least one opening and adapted to cooperate with said sealing gasket; and a front frame made of a relatively more rigid material than the back mount and configured to tighten said sealing gasket against said back mount, said front frame and said back mount being provided with releasable mutually engaging members, wherein said back mount is provided with at least one fin that protrudes outwards radially.
 2. The diving mask according to claim 1, wherein said at least one fin is arranged at one of the mutually engaging members placed on said back mount.
 3. The diving mask according to claim 1, wherein said engaging members comprise a tooth-shaped profile adapted to be inserted into a complementary cavity formed in an inner profile of said front frame.
 4. The diving mask according to claim 2, wherein, at the outlet edge of said at least one opening adapted to receive the at least one transparent element, a cavity is defined housing the at least one fin.
 5. The diving mask according to claim 1, wherein said sealing gasket cooperates with throats formed in said back mount and said front frame.
 6. The diving according to claim 1, wherein said sealing gasket has a substantially longitudinal G-shaped section.
 7. The diving according to claim 2, wherein said at least one fin has a length substantially equal to a cross section of said back mount.
 8. The diving according to claim 2, wherein said at least one fin has a width between 5% and 10% of a perimeter of said back mount.
 9. The diving according to claim 1, wherein the facial body has two front openings each provided with the sealing gasket along the outlet edge delimiting the respective opening and adapted to cooperate with the respective transparent element, the respective back mount configured to couple with said front frame being provided for each of the two front openings. 